KC men slip past Lamar State, 72-71; Hoberecht earns 300th coaching victory

KILGORE, TX -- The Kilgore Rangers came back from a 15-point halftime deficit to nip Lamar State College-Port Arthur, 72-71, at Masters Gymnasium Dec. 2.

With the score tied 71-71, KC got the ball with 6 seconds left.  Cheik Diallo drove the length of the court and forced a foul with a second left to earn two free throws.  Diallo made the first free throw to put the Rangers up by one point, intentionally missing the second free throw.  

Lamar State rebounded the ball and put up a desperation three, but it was no good.

The win was head coach Brian Hoberecht's 300th career victory as a collegiate head coach.  Hoberecht is in his 16th year as head coach at the college level and in his eighth season at the helm of the Rangers.

Jaleel Wheeler led all scorers with 33 points which is his third game to score more than 30 points.  Wheeler was 16-of-20 from the free throw line.  

Two other players were in double figures for the Rangers with Cheik Diallo scoring 13 and Alassane Kah knocking down 10 points.

With the win, the Rangers improve 10-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

They followed that up with a 80-57 win over Northwestern State JV Dec. 3.

The Rangers are back in action Wednesday, Dec. 9, against Angelina College.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.